Psa 59
 
bh[See ver. 1 above]

Psalms 59:1

Deliver Me from My Enemies

To the choirmaster: according to aDo Not Destroy. A bMiktam
Probably a musical or liturgical term
of David, dwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.

1 eDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;
fprotect me from those who grise up against me;

This pastoral letter from Paul to Titus was intended to offer encouragement and wisdom as Titus endured ongoing opposition from the ungodly and from legalists within his congregations. Paul instructed Titus to complete his assigned job of establishing overseers (elders) for the churches under his care. He described what sort of people these leaders should be, and how all believers should live in relation to each other as well as in their interactions with nonbelievers. Proper Christian behavior is based on the fact that “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,” and therefore those who believe in Christ are to “live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives” as they await his return (2:11-13). Paul probably wrote this letter in the 60s a.d.

Titus 1

Greeting

1Paul, a servant
Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
of God and ian apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and jtheir knowledge of the truth, kwhich accords with godliness,
2 lin hope of eternal life, which God, mwho never lies, npromised obefore the ages began
Greek before times eternal
3and qat the proper time manifested in his word rthrough the preaching swith which I have been entrusted tby the command of God our Savior;

4To Titus, umy true child in va common faith:

wGrace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

5 xThis is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and yappoint elders in every town as I directed you 6 zif anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,
Or a man of one woman
and his children are believers
Or  are faithful
and not open to the charge of acdebauchery or insubordination.
7For an overseer,
Or bishop; Greek episkopos
aeas God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not afbe arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent agor greedy for gain,
8but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ahand disciplined. 9He must aihold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ajsound
Or healthy; also verse 13
doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

10For there are many who are insubordinate, alempty talkers and deceivers, especially those of amthe circumcision party.
Or  especially those of the circumcision
11They must be silenced, since aothey are upsetting whole families by teaching apfor shameful gain what they ought not to teach. 12 aqOne of the Cretans,
Greek  One of them
a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
Probably from Epimenides of Crete
13This testimony is true. Therefore atrebuke them ausharply, that they avmay be sound in the faith, 14 awnot devoting themselves to Jewish myths and axthe commands of people aywho turn away from the truth. 15 azTo the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and baunbelieving, nothing is pure; but both bbtheir minds and their consciences are defiled. 16 bcThey profess to know God, but they bddeny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, beunfit for any good work.

Titus 2

Teach Sound Doctrine

1But as for you, teach what accords with bfsound
Or healthy; also verses 2, 8
doctrine.
2Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, bhsound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. 3 biOlder women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, bjnot slanderers bkor slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled, blpure, bmworking at home, kind, and bnsubmissive to their own husbands, bothat the word of God may not be reviled. 6Likewise, urge bpthe younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects to be bqa model of good works, and in your teaching brshow integrity, bsdignity, 8and btsound speech that cannot be condemned, buso that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. 9 bvBondservants
Or Slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface)
are to be submissive to their own masters bxin everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,
10not pilfering, bybut showing all good faith, bzso that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11For cathe grace of God cbhas appeared, bringing salvation ccfor all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and cdworldly passions, and ceto live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in cfthe present age, 13 cgwaiting for our blessed chhope, the ciappearing of the glory of our great cjGod and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 ckwho gave himself for us to clredeem us from all lawlessness and cmto purify for himself cna people for his own possession who are cozealous for good works.

15Declare these things; exhort and cprebuke with all authority. cqLet no one disregard you.

Titus 3

Be Ready for Every Good Work

1Remind them crto be submissive to rulers and authorities, csto be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 ctto speak evil of no one, cuto avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and cvto show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For cwwe ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4But when cxthe goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, cynot because of works done by us in righteousness, but czaccording to his own mercy, by dathe washing of regeneration and dbrenewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he dcpoured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that ddbeing justified by his grace we might become deheirs dfaccording to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is dgtrustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful dhto devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But diavoid foolish djcontroversies, dkgenealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for dlthey are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, dmafter warning him once and then twice, dnhave nothing more to do with him, 11knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Greetings

12When I send Artemas or doTychicus to you, do your best to come to me dpat Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and dqApollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn drto devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not dsbe unfruitful.

15All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

dtGrace be with you all.

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